OXFORD -- Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin met with the media Monday, discussing the 11th-ranked Rebels’ open date last weekend and previewing Saturday’s showdown with No. ? Alabama (2:30 p.m., Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, CBS).
Here's a look at what Kiffin said -- and maybe, just maybe, what he meant -- during Monday's press conference.
What Lane Kiffin said -- and maybe, just maybe -- what he meant during Monday's press conference.
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Opening statement…
What he said:
"Obviously, no game recap. It was really good to see a lot of guys back healthy for the most part. Obviously, we don't go into details on individuals, but that's the best we've looked in a long time—probably since the beginning of training camp to have so many guys out there moving around. So that was great. Glad to be coming back home. Extremely challenging opponent. Now we have the combination of elite players with elite coaching. This is the best of the best. I texted Finebaum on the way over here when I saw his quotes. Like he normally does, says that the Nick Saban dynasty is over and all of that. Every time he says this, which I tell him, I call it goat fuel—the opposite of rat poison. You're just giving the goat fuel, which for him, that works, and he goes and proves them wrong every time. Really appreciate Paul saying that right after the game. I'm sure that was on his desk Sunday morning. They are always ready to play. They always rebound over the years. You're going to go play the best offensive player in the country and the best defensive player in the country. Very challenging situation. Very glad to be home. We have a nice long home winning streak here, would obviously assume the crowd will be great.”
What he meant: OK, I pay no attention to Finebaum. So I had to look up what he said.
“You can choose your words harshly or you can be calm and say, ‘Nick Saban will recover from this,’ but I don’t know the answer to that. I know he’s wasted the best quarterback (Bryce Young) perhaps in Alabama history, maybe one of the best defensive players (Will Anderson), and you laid out the rest of the team, it seems a shame, quite frankly, when you look at it from an Alabama perspective, what’s happened.
“Nick Saban wasn’t really sure how to respond. He said I’m not second-guessing anyone. Well he ought to second-guess himself. This has been Nick Saban’s worst coaching job at Alabama. By my count, this has been the fourth time that he’s been outcoached. Sarkisian, Texas, Jimbo Fisher outcoached him, Josh Heupel, add Brian Kelly to that list.”
Whatever. It’s Finebaum’s job, I suppose, to create headlines and fodder for talk shows. I doubt Kiffin was crazy about it, as it provides Alabama with some possible motivation. I laughed out loud at "goat fuel." Kiffin is smart. Other than "Get your popcorn ready," he's not giving Alabama anything extra.
On Saban's teams' ability to rebound from losses…
What he said:
"Well, there weren't many of them. There were only three, there were only two regular-season in three years, both to Ole Miss. I thought he was phenomenal. You would maybe expect to be the other way like he comes in and everything is the end of the world like some coaches do. He does a really good job of addressing exactly what it was. Remember guys, like Finebaum's stupid statement, dynasty is over—they've lost two games by two plays and both games could've went either way. Alabama makes the field goal at Tennessee and the two-point gets stopped, then they're the No. 1/No. 2 team in the country coming in here. So we're talking about two plays, two teams on the road in two of the hardest environments to play in, over 100,000 people at both games. This is a great team and the best coach to ever do it.”
What he meant: I mean, this is true. No doubt. On the flip side, if Texas A&M converts a 2-point play and Texas makes one tackle, Alabama is a four-loss team coming to Oxford unranked. Flip a coin four times, you’re likely to get heads twice and tails twice. Still, the dynasty-is-dead talk is so stupid. Again, I can’t believe I’m spending time talking about Finebaum today. On the list of things I’d rather do…
Come to think of it, it’s typical of Paul to hit someone when they’re down. He did it to me back in the spring of 2008. It’s just his M.O. And it’s never to anyone’s face. He wouldn’t say that to Saban if the Alabama coach were sitting there. He’d kiss his ass in that setting.
But yeah, ‘Bama loses a couple of games, Saban looks a little vulnerable and he goes for a kill shot. Pretty typical.
I knew the man. I thought he was a friend, an acquaintance at the very least. I did his show as the Auburn beat writer for years. I did his show after I was fired in Mobile. He knew what happened to me there, knew the people who were behind it, yet he still, for no reason, made fun of my career misfortune on the air in Birmingham after I’d moved here to start this gig.
People at Ole Miss have asked me why I won’t go on his show. That’s why.
On the team's depth this season…
What he said:
"I don't know. I still think we have depth issues, especially as the injuries were mounting, we certainly did. They've shown up a lot on defense. It's easily noticed, our defensive issues, once we lost some people over these last few weeks. Our numbers over there have been dramatically different. I do think we're better. I've said all along, this is our best roster of the three years, of collection of talent. But it does not mean it will be the best team. We're still coming together. I know that sounds crazy this late in the season, but with so many pieces, I think it says in (the game notes) 55 percent of something of the team is new, something like that. Hopefully we keep moving up.”
What he meant: If you’re looking for optimism, there it is. Maybe the off date gave this Ole Miss a fighting chance down the stretch. And the fact that he views this as a team still developing should be viewed as a major positive as well.
On Nick Saban rubbing off on him more as a coach than Pete Carroll, Monte Kiffin…
What he said:
"I think that's probably just later in the career. It's fresher coming off of it. Being there the three years, I was with Coach Carroll for six years and I've been with my dad forever. I think that's more just because it was the latest part and you took a lot of how that was done, and that was done in the SEC, in this region, the way coach did it and stuff. I think that's more just a combination of those two things."
What he meant: This was my question. I’m always struck by how much Kiffin reminds me of Saban — details, mannerisms, handling media, etc. It’s the opposite of Carroll, but the explanation makes sense. The regional part is interesting, too. Maybe he thinks Carroll’s way wouldn’t work in the Southeast. That’s worth contemplating.
On how the team responded during the bye week with the challenge of Alabama coming…
What he said:
"I'm sure it sounds crazy. We don't sit and talk about Bama week and all that that everyone else in the country seems to do. We've got a lot of things to work on to get better. It really doesn't matter. It matters that you do things really well. That's how you win games. I didn't notice anything different, but I'm glad I didn't because that's not how we train them. We don't want to be a program like that (up and down)—oh we get up for these games but we don't for these. That's what I get mad at our fans for doing, so we're not supposed to do that.”
What he meant: This is the stuff that I think makes Kiffin a potentially great coach. If you treat Alabama like the Super Bowl, you’re setting yourself up for a letdown. If you win, can you re-focus for Arkansas? If you lose, can you recover emotionally in time for the game in Fayetteville? Kiffin takes that stuff out. He treats every game the same way. The kids know how big this is. They have social media. They have ears. However, the magnitude isn’t getting enforced in the building. It’s all process. That is, ironically, the biggest thing I think Kiffin got from Saban. The very process Finebaum is questioning is the one Kiffin is utilizing as he prepares his team for Saturday.
On Alabama linebacker Will Anderson…
What he said:
"He's such a unique combination of speed and power. He reduces down and plays on guards, which is really unusual, then he speed rushes and then he drops too. That really doesn't seem to happen now as much. That was kind of the old 3-4 outside backer and then reduce. But he still does that. Just really unique combination, and he plays with relentless effort.”
What he meant: Not much to add here. Anderson is a bad man. He was a wrecking ball against Ole Miss a year ago. With freshman tackles preparing to face him this week, I’m guessing Anderson is a source of worry.
On if he addresses his name coming up in job opening rumors…
What he said:
"I don't, and maybe I'm wrong for that. Just never have. Our players, we treat this like, we tell them 'pro mindset.' We're here to work and get better every day and worry about what we can control. We don't even talk about that.”
What he meant: It’s the same answer as last week. It’ll be the same next week.
On how his roster matches up with Alabama’s…
What he said:
"That kind of gets into a lot of game-planning stuff, but these guys have great players and great schemes. That's not the typical rat poison—they do. You look at the draft every year, and you'll see it again this year. It's not often that you have the returning Heisman Trophy winner and the best player in the country at positions where one touches the ball every down and the other one is lined up really close to the quarterback. Those are really the two best positions to have the best players at. You've got to do everything right in order to beat these guys. You have to coach really well, play really well, win situations, manage things, take risks. There's a reason why they're the best over time at what they do. Again, we're talking about, when they've played them, two of the hottest teams in the country on the road in two of the hardest environments to play, and they're one-play games. We're talking about, if they win those two, then they're the No. 1 team in the country coming in here.”
What he meant: This is likely what Kiffin is telling his team, just in case anyone inside the Manning Center thinks Alabama is down. Young, Anderson, Saban, close calls, etc. And Kiffin is right. Alabama has lost close games at Neyland and Tiger Stadium. Those aren’t exactly friendly places to play.
On Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs…
What he said:
"Great player. Really dynamic in what he does. Gives you issues. Not old-school, but really their offense isn't either. So he really fits into what their offense does because that's not the old Alabama offense from years ago either. He's not the big bruising back from a long time ago. Bryce Young certainly isn't the physical stature of the old-school quarterback. I think I just fits in really well with what they do.”
What he meant: Personally, I think we’re going to see a big dose of Gibbs Saturday. If I’m Alabama, I’m testing Ole Miss’ run defense the way voters visit the polls in certain locales — early and often.
On what he did during the bye week…
What he said:
"I did some recruiting. Went to a couple of different places, as well as our staff. Had a chance to see Knox play a game. Then got back yesterday. That maybe sounds strange because they won the Super Bowl, why they still play. It was a regional game and they got knocked out by this all-star team from Arizona, they didn't play very well.”
What he meant: This was the fun part of the press conference. Credit to Jon Sokolov for the questions. As a dad, I just think it’s cool he got to go see Knox play, even if in a loss. There’s something special about seeing your son play sports, even if it’s middle school or whatever. I’m glad it worked out where he got a chance to head to California to see the big game. You know Knox was pumped to have his dad there.
On how Knox played…
What he said:
"He was ok. Their team was really out-performed. They've got to check birth certificates. These guys were supposed to be in eighth grade. I kept saying to Knox, there's not a chance these guys are in eighth grade from Arizona. These guys looked like they were in 11th, 12th grade. They've got to check the birth certificates. I said the same thing when I watched the eighth graders play here against Tupelo. That Tupelo team, those guys looked like they were 20 years old too.”
What he meant: This was great. We were all laughing. The coach makes no excuses. The dad looks for excuses. That made me laugh.
Oh, and Kiffin’s right. Tupelo is playing college dudes in every sport. Everyone knows the Golden Wave cheats when they play Oxford teams. The authorities should get to the bottom of it. Tupelo has probably paid them off.
